“I could talk for days,” said Kim Maddox of her involvement in helping to decorate The White House for Christmas. First Lady Melania Trump chose “Home is Where the Heart Is” for this year’s Christmas theme.
Maddox worked in Washington Friday through Sunday of Thanksgiving week. “Lunch the first day was amazing because they served us Thanksgiving,” she said. “I’m guessing they realized we had all been traveling and that we weren’t with our families. So we had Thanksgiving lunch that Friday in the State Room.”
Days began early in the morning at 6:45 with a return time to the hotel anywhere between 4:30 and 5:30 p.m. However, some nights the decorators stayed even later to complete the task at hand. “When you’re in the zone, you hate to stop,” Maddox said. “Then again sometimes you’ve been looking at something so long you need to walk away and have fresh eyes for the next day.”
The White House State Room was ground zero of sorts. “When we arrived we had a coat check downstairs and then we ate breakfast in the State Room. Imagine! You’re sitting in the State Room where all of these dignitaries have sat; and here you are, casually eating a bagel!”
No one was allowed to take any photos during the decorating process; however, once Monday morning, December 1, arrived it was a different story. The White House Holiday Party held in the State Room was a thank you to all the decorators from across the United States for their efforts. Mrs. Trump offered words of praise and encouragement. “I got to stand 10’ feet away from Melania. She was amazing! I videoed her speech. One of the highlights was, she said how thankful she was for us. She said it’s not her house it’s the People’s House and we decorated this house for the people. We made the people proud; we made her proud.”
Maddox initially thought only 300 decorators were chosen from 3,000 applicants; however, she learned after arriving that more than 12,000 applications and only 145 were selected. Maddox and one other were chosen from Mississippi.
“The first day you don’t want to mess up. All you do is listen to what they tell you to do. You have to sign NDA contracts, several pages, because we weren’t supposed to talk about it. I could not tell people what the theme was because it’s for Melania, her baby. It’s not my story to tell.
“I didn’t know all of the ends and outs to it (The White House). Being in it I learned so much. The Secret Service educated us on a lot of things which I thought was so much fun. I thought they would be very serious but they would come in the room and they would joke with us. They would ask us questions about ourselves. They would tell us about the paintings on the walls. They weren’t the stiff type that I thought they would be.”
Maddox was all smiles when she explained how she got a selfie the morning of the Holiday Party with her favorite Secret Service agent. “Every morning we would have to pick up our name tag. I would look for my name tag and he would see me from afar and go ‘Mississippi!’ I got called Mississippi.”
Monday was different; Secret Service agents were more serious because President and Mrs. Trump arrived back at The White House Sunday evening. The decorators were released early Sunday due to the arrival of President Trump at 6 p.m. Maddox set her alarm for 6 p.m. to watch the helicopter fly in as she could see The White House from her hotel room. “At 5:58 p.m. here comes the helicopter— it is so loud. He was two minutes early but I guess he landed at six o’clock! They are so precise, down to a T. They are a well oiled machine and it is impressive to watch.”
Maddox recalled the first time she stepped into The White House. “When I walked in the White House I remember thinking to myself I never thought I would be standing right here. I’ve had so many dreams to accomplish in my life and God has answered every single prayer that I’ve ever had. I don’t think He has fallen short on anything. And this was not a prayer I ever had. Here I am standing here and I have absolutely no idea how I got there!”
She was not aware they would be making decorations. “I thought I would show up, they would have all the decorations and I would just place them on the trees. No, we put lights on the trees. I learned how to string lights. There’s an appropriate way to string.
“You stretch and straighten out the lights to get all the kinks out so strings do not droop on the tree. “Apparently all my trees are lit wrong. I told Lee ‘listen, we’re going to have to redo this next year because this is wrong’. Now I can’t look at wrong! I’ve been trained otherwise. I can’t do the garland the same way either.”
The light crew began work on November 24 and worked for four days. To commemorate the 250th birthday of America, 250 live trees had to be strung with lights.
Maddox was in awe of the talent she was working with. “The room next to me was created by Hervé Pierre from France, her (Mrs. Trump’s) personal stylist. He came into the room I was in and looked at the mantel I created and went (air kiss) ‘Magnificent!’ And I said, ‘Oh my gosh!’ And he was so nice! He was so happy to help.”
“I decorated the Blue Room, which is very prestigious. They give you supplies and it’s up to you to create. They gave us autonomy and I love that. They trusted us. All of us wanted it perfect.” There is no drawing or template to use as a go-by, only imagination. The mantel garland took about 14 hours to complete for the three team members who worked on it.
“When we finished the garland my team leader came up and stood in front of the garland and said ‘It’s finished. It’s perfect.’ I think after 14 hours of working, no sleep – your stress level is high because you want it perfect and you’re working so hard. When somebody says it’s done and it’s perfect I was overwhelmed and I started crying. I felt like we created the perfect thing. How do you reach perfection these days? It’s very hard, especially when you’re doing it for the President and The First Lady. ”
“The tree that I helped decorate that I hung ornaments and made ornaments for is the same tree Mrs. Trump greets in front of The White House.” The Blue Room is also where the President exits to address the public. The tree is also significant because it is a Gold Star Tree. “A Gold Star is in commemoration of those who have laid down their lives. I had three Gold Star families that worked with me. Hearing them tell their stories made it more special.” The tree is an 18’1/2 concolor fir tree from Michigan.
Maddox continued, ““I’m not a crier. I cried listening to their stories. I didn’t cry but I got a little overwhelmed when I got to hang our Mississippi ornament. I was working on the mantel and I was a little bummed that I couldn’t help decorate the tree too, but I knew I had an honor. I got to decorate THE mantel. My team was so wonderful that when they got to my Mississippi ornament they yelled out ‘Mississippi! Come hang your ornament!’ I did get choked up; I still get choked up. Number one, they thought about me to do that and then number two just to represent us. It was a very nice honor.”
On the tree are little gold stars on which the Gold Star families listed their family member’s name on the back.
She worked with a team of about 20 decorators. “I think we had the best team; I’m a little biased. But we all got along. We were Team Twinkle and had our own little cheer. Nobody else had a cheer. We randomly went throughout the White House yelling that while everybody else stared,” Maddox said laughing. Several states were represented on Team Twinkle with Mississippi including Nebraska, Alaska, Kentucky, New York, Ohio, Oklahoma, Florida, Kansas, Alabama, Oregon and California. Only two Mississippians were chosen to help decorate.
“I have been so supported by Magee, which is my home, and so supported from the town that I grew up, Brookhaven, and the people all over. It’s nice to be able to say you supported me and got me here. I want to give back to you and let you be a part of my experience.”
Maddox posted this journey on her personal and business Facebook pages largely so that everyone who has supported her can see what she has seen.
She added, “I cannot stress enough that the town of Magee and everyone else supported me in everything along the way that encouraged me and celebrated with me because I will tell you there were people there who did not have their town support them.”
In addition, Maddox flew in a few days early as a tourist to a place she has longed to visit because of the rich history in our nation’s capitol. Those sites provided a wealth of information and knowledge of which she was already aware but was now able to see, touch and feel, which hit her differently from reading about these things in a book. Among other sites, Maddox visited Arlington Cemetery, the Holocaust Museum, The World War II Memorial and even the Library of Congress, which is only open from 2:00 – 3:00 pm daily.
“The entire time I remember thinking I can’t believe I’m here. I’m holding ribbon that dignitaries are going to see; Trump and Melania are going to see. I’m creating something that a lot of people are going to see and appreciate that will be in pictures. A piece of history is what I’ve created.
“Knowing that made me think about my daughter.,” she continued. “Now this will get me choked up. I thought about Emelia and I wanted to show her you can do anything. I was hoping that doing this and making Mississippi proud, as she grew up she would say ‘My mom was in the White House and she came from Magee; a small town in Mississippi. I can do anything because my mom did everything.’ I want to be a good role model to her. That’s what I felt like I focused on the most was I can’t believe I’m here and how can I show my daughter that she’s just as capable if not more capable than I am.”
Maddox is still riding high from the experience and is not in a place to say yes or no about applying a second time even though initially she was all in to go for it. “I think I’ve changed. I don’t know how I would top the Blue Room. That’s the first Gold Star Tree in the Blue Room ever. The reason it’s there is because of construction so it may never happen again. Being able to decorate the prestigious Blue Room but it also being a Gold Star Tree – where do you go from there? It was the best week of my life. I’ll be flying high for the rest of my life.”
All photos submitted by Kim Maddox.
